On purge bébé (1931)

On purge bébé: Directed by Jean Renoir. With Marguerite Pierry, Jacques Louvigny, Michel Simon, Olga Valéry. A porcelain-maker invites a guest to sell him chamber pots, but family problems cause interruptions.

“I recently gave the thumbs down to a truly abysmal film of Georges Feydeauu0026#39;s u0026#39;A Flea in her Earu0026#39; and strongly recommended watching u0026#39;Occupe-toi du0026#39;Amelieu0026#39; to see how Feydeau should be played but I could just as easily have recommended this first talking picture of Jean Renoir which he adapted from a one act vaudeville piece by Feydeau first performed in Paris in 1910, here reduced by about half an hour. It is all about u0026#39;the playingu0026#39; of course and this cast has done Feydeau proud. Louvigny and Pierry are superb as is Sacha Tarride as their constipated son. This film is stolen however by Michel Simon appearing in this second of four films for Renoir. When he is on screen all eyes are drawn to him. He always maintained that he had never taken acting classes and had no idea where the acting academy was even situated. Instinct and personality are gifts of course and cannot be acquired. Roger Hubert was the camera operator on this and progressed to be the cinematographer of some of the greatest French films of all. The sound is marvellous for 1931 due not least to the legendary sound engineer Robert Bugnan. Fernandel appears briefly in a totally thankless part but you have to start somewhere. He went on, of course, to be something of a scene stealer himself! An immensely entertaining piece about chamber pots and laxatives performed by an immaculate cast that rises above the lavatorial subject matter. What a pity that Renoir was obliged to spend the war years working in Hollywood for the studio he dubbed u0026#39;Seventeenth Century Foxu0026#39;!”